Bigfoot researchers have once again declared their deeply observant and scientific view that the creature is real.

As WFAA-TV reports, they presented this week what they consider conclusive footage of the hairy being's being.

OK, some of the footage was from 2005, but don't let that put you off.

The members of the Sasquatch Genome Project -- led by Melba Ketchum, a veterinarian who owns a genetics research company -- insist there have been several sightings in East Texas and along the border with Louisiana.

Honestly, if you were a Sasquatch, wouldn't you hang out in East Texas too?

One researcher, Dennis Pfohl, insisted that the foundations of his belief were shaken by what he'd discovered during research that purportedly cost $500,000.

For myself, I must say that the video simply suggests people dressed up in gorilla suits.

Perhaps that level of belief has spurred a Canadian airship company called R.A.T.S. Inc. to back the Falcon Project, which claims to be "the most penetrating search for Sasquatch/North American Ape ever conducted in North America."

I have a feeling it doesn't have much competition.

Its Web site declaims: "The Falcon Project was formed for the purpose of acquiring motion picture evidence of a Hominoid. Our competitive advantage, relative to other Hominoid research organizations, is that we are employing technology that no one else possesses (which we also have the exclusive rights)."

This, as Fast Company reports, involves using drones -- very quiet drones -- to spy on Bigfoot (and take pictures) from above.

Its lead investigator, Jeff Meldrum, suggested to Fast Company that the project had other clever methods: "You know, putting out a transmitter in a banana that can be passed through the gut and, while it's internal, serve as a tracking device."

Gorillas do eat bananas. As do men in gorilla suits.

There is an academic institution that is prepared to support the drone project -- at least emotionally. Idaho State University has set up an account where you can donate, tax-free. Coincidentally, Meldrum is a professor of human anatomy there.

He told Fast Company: "Some would label me as a crackpot, and (say) that I'm an embarrassment to the university."

However, perhaps the search for Bigfoot might encourage students to want to go to a slightly unknown school, such as, say, Idaho State.

Meldrum explained: "ISU has in some ways been kind of put on the map as the only university that has a resident faculty member who is publishing on this subject."

Yes, just as Bigfoot has been put on the map by all these people wearing gorilla suits pretending to be Bigfoot.

There seems to be quite a way to go before the drone project reaches its financial goal -- somewhere around $400,000. A recent Kickstarter campaign raised only $11,865.

If Bigfoot is ever to be found, this might be the best chance.

I have a feeling, though, that the best chance was around 3,000 years ago. And we blew it.